Turkish parliament passes law to push forward PKK peace bid

Turkish parliament passes law to push forward Kurdish PKK peace bid — Turkish parliament, Ankara, Turkey, 2014. Photo: AP

ANKARA,— Turkey’s parliament approved a law on Monday that sets up a legal process for disbanding the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK, marking a major step toward ending a conflict that has lasted for decades and killed tens of thousands of people.

The new law offers legal protection to many former PKK fighters who have not committed specific crimes. It also allows courts to suspend prison sentences for some people convicted of belonging to the PKK, opening a path for them to return to normal life.

Lawmakers passed the bill by a vote of 468 in the 600 seat parliament. It won backing from President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, the nationalist MHP, and the pro Kurdish DEM Party.

This is the clearest action Ankara has taken since jailed Kurdish PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan urged the group in February 2025 to lay down its arms and dissolve.

Some PKK figures, including Ocalan, are left out of these benefits because they were convicted of more serious crimes, such as leading a terrorist group or receiving an aggravated life sentence handed down before 2005.

Those individuals will not get the same legal protections or sentence suspensions given to others.

These individuals will not qualify for the same legal protections or sentence suspensions granted to others.

The PKK said in May 2025 that it would stop its armed campaign and disband. Two months later, a group of fighters burned their weapons in a symbolic ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan (Bashur Kurdistan).

Turkey, the United States and the European Union all list the PKK as a “terrorist” group.

The PKK began its armed campaign in 1984, seeking greater self rule for Turkey’s Kurdish population, a group Ankara still does not recognize in its constitution.

Kurds make up close to 30 percent of Turkey’s 85 million people, based on 2012 data. Turkey says the fighting has killed more than 40,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish fighters.

The law addresses a key issue in the peace process, namely what happens to thousands of PKK members as the group breaks down its armed and organizational structure.

The effort became public in October 2024, when MHP leader Devlet Bahceli, known for his tough stance against Kurdish militants, surprised many by suggesting Ocalan could speak to parliament and announce the PKK’s end.

A parliamentary commission formed in August 2025 gathered input from politicians, officials and civil society groups before recommending the legislation.

The law does not settle wider Kurdish demands, including political and cultural rights, changes to anti terrorism laws, or the status of Ocalan, held on Imrali island since 1999.

The government calls the effort part of building a “terror free Turkey.” Kurdish politicians say lasting peace will need broader democratic and legal changes.

(With files from Reuters | Agencies)